Comparison

VibeTerm vs Lochan

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

VibeTerm

Features
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VibeTerm is a remote terminal client for developers who use AI coding assistant CLI tools on macOS. Control and monitor your AI coding sessions running on your Mac directly from your iPhone - approve prompts, review outputs, and manage terminal sessions while away from your desk. FEATURES - Host Management: Register Mac hosts via QR code or manual setup - Real-time Monitoring: See AI session status instantly - Secure SSH: ED25519 key authentication - Full Terminal: Complete terminal emulation - Quick Approvals: Custom keyboard optimized for y/n responses NEW: OPENCLAW INTEGRATION - Chat with your AI assistant directly from iPhone - Sci-fi themed chat interface with history - Voice input and TTS output for hands-free operation - Optional feature - disabled by default SETUP Requires SSH access to your Mac and a companion status bar helper app for session monitoring. PRIVACY All connections are direct between your iPhone and Mac. No external servers. No data collection. No third-party AI services are contacted by VibeTerm.

About

Lochan

Features
Read full description

Your coding agents keep working when you step away. Lochan is how you keep up with them, calmly. When Claude Code, Codex or any other agent on your computer stops to ask a question, open its real terminal on your phone, read what it did, and answer. Then get back to your walk. A CALM VIEW OF A BUSY HERD Every agent on the machine at a glance, with a line on where each one left off. The ones waiting on you always come first. - Tiles: the whole herd as a grid that moves as your agents do - Board: Blocked, Working, Done and Idle as columns you swipe through - Projects: agents grouped by the project they are working in ASK THE SHEPHERD One question, the whole herd. The Shepherd is an agent on your computer that reads every other pane. Ask it what needs you, what changed or whether anything is stuck, and it answers from what is on the screens, with a link to each pane it mentions. It runs Claude Code by default, or Codex, Pi, OpenCode or Grok. ANY AGENT CAN JOIN THE HERD Lochan does not plug into your agent. It opens the terminal the agent is already running in, so it works with Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Grok, OpenCode, Aider and anything else with a prompt. A new agent works the day it ships. A REAL TERMINAL, IN YOUR POCKET Tap any agent for the actual session: full output, scrollback and a keyboard. MAKE THE KEYS YOUR OWN Two rows of keys sit above the terminal. Drag any key to either row, switch off the ones you never use, and add your own: - Text keys for the commands you repeat, like /compact, /usage or /model sonnet - Chord keys for Ctrl, Option and Shift combos, like your tmux prefix or Ctrl-R SHARE A SCREENSHOT WITH YOUR AGENT Pick a photo, take one of the screen in front of you, or send a file. It lands on your computer and its path goes into the prompt, ready for you to finish and send. SAY IT. CHECK IT. SEND IT. Dictate a long instruction, read the transcript, and send it only when it reads right. Or write it in a real text box, with a draft that waits if you get pulled away. RUN THE HERD FROM YOUR PHONE Start a new agent in any project, rename it, and close it when it is done. BUILT FOR A PHONE Lochan tells each agent it is being driven from a phone, so it leads with the answer, keeps replies short and batches its questions. PAIRED IN ONE SCAN Run one line on your Mac or Linux machine, then scan the code it shows. Your phone makes its own key, and it stays in the phone's Keychain. Nothing to type, no private key to copy. Save every machine you own and switch between them from the title bar. No account, and no Lochan server in between: your phone talks to your computers over SSH. Away from home you need a route to them, and Tailscale is the two-minute version. ALSO IN LOCHAN: A PRIVATE AI CHAT Chat with Apple's on-device model, open models downloaded to your phone, or cloud models with your own API key. Conversations branch instead of overwriting, and you can share one with a link we cannot read. Lochan works with Herdr, the terminal workspace for AI coding agents, on the computers you own.

Screenshots

VibeTerm4 screens
Lochan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: VibeTerm at every 2 days against Lochan's fortnightly. VibeTerm also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VibeTerm ships an update every 2 days, Lochan fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
VibeTerm versus Lochan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVibeTermLochan
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 days โ€” betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad โ€” better
Requires iOS17.0 โ€” better26.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size32 MB63 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperYuzuru HondaPurplecones, LLC

In-app purchases

None

VibeTerm

No in-app purchases

None

Lochan

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is VibeTerm free?
VibeTerm is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Lochan free?
Lochan is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do VibeTerm or Lochan have ads?
Neither VibeTerm nor Lochan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, VibeTerm or Lochan?
VibeTerm ships an update every 2 days, and Lochan fortnightly. Most recently, VibeTerm was updated on October 11, 2026 and Lochan on November 1, 2026.

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